COMING TO LIGHT

She received the invitation in her email, and laughed that such a broadcast thing could feel so personal. To her alone it said: This is a test — if you really mean it, you will leave this quiet, dark, safe place; carry that new-baptized heart of yourself out into the world and make yourself known to this man whose words have made themselves so intimate with you. She almost didn't make it, every second breath offering her a way out, understandable deflections, but she really did mean it, so in the end she showed up and found the strength to carry herself close, to open her mouth and let enough appropriate words come out that he opened his hand to receive the small scribblings of her heart into his possession. She thought the joy of it would break her apart just then, but later, when he looked into the crowd to find and answer her (yes, he said), she simply turned to light.